cole in the house, conservative republicans who said look. we ought to get this done for the middle class. i think obama was saying to boehner look, i don't need to give that. >> $700 billion just for getting the middle class tax through. just for that. yeah. >> this is what he told his members in the congress. because of stories like this, that can paint the picture to the voters that obama's not playing ball. >> trying to explain this to somebody from pluto. say in australia now. saying when congress wrote the cliff, defined it, spend cuts, increases on income, tax increase on state. they wrote it up as this horrible thing that nobody would want to face. either side, right? they designed it that way. now they're walking right over that cliff. over niagra falls. explain. >> it's like congress is on pluto and we're all on earth. they say they want deficit reduction. if you go over the cliff, you get deficit reduction, you just don't get it in the responsible, accountable way. it's like chopping off on arm. >> like says i want a shower, i'm go